Towel for towel cabinets



March 1938. L. L. PRICE ET AL 2,110,238

TOWEL FOR TOWEL CABINETS Filed April 14, 1934 2 sheets sheec 1 14 .EWENTRS L.L-FZZIDE UDJTMHNSBN BYWFX 74 75 11 .ZZTTUHNEYB.

March 8, 1938.

. L. L. PRICE 1-;1- AL TOWEL FOR TOWEL CABINETS 2 Shet-Sheet 2 FiledApril 14, 1934 JNVENTUES LLFL JEE UDJTMHNBUN BY "gm" 2 T T UHNEYS.

Patented Mar. 8, 1938 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFIQE TOWEL FOR TOWELCABINETS Application April 14, 1934, Serial No. 720,580

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to a novel type of towel and towel cabinet tohandle such towel.

As to the towel, our invention comprises providing a plurality ofindividual towels each in- 5 tended to be used by only one person forwhat is technically termed a wipe. These individual towels are securedalong one edge to an elongated band or web so that the assembly of theweb and the individual towels may be formed into a roll of cleantoweling, then, by means of the special cabinet, the web with theindividual towels may be moved so that a person may use one of theindividual towels for a wipe and then the soiled individual towel iswound with its carrier web on a roll for the soiled toweling.

In one form of our towel assembly the individual towels are stitched atone of their ends to the web so that as the web is drawn through thedispensing cabinet each individual towel during a portion of its travelhangs suspended from the web in a position for use for a person toobtain a wipe.

Another feature of our invention as it relates to the towel constructionis forming the web and the individual toweling of one elongated strip offabric but in this case, the web at intervals is provided withlongitudinal slits adjacent its opposite side edges, these slits beingjoined by a transverse slit thus forming an individual towel attachedand formed integral with the web or supporting strip. With thisconstruction, the individual towels and the web at the slits may beprovided with selvage edges on the side and on the free ends of thetoweling and adjacent por- 5 tions of the web.

An object and feature of our invention as it concerns the cabinetincludes an upper and lower supporting carrier located in the cabinet,the upper carrier preferably being for the roll of clean toweling whichroll as above mentioned has the web with the individual towels attachedthereto, and at the lower portion of the cabinet there is a secondsupporting carrier on which the roll of the soiled individual towelsattached to the web maybe wound.

A further feature of our invention in regard to the carriers is thatthese are each made in the form of an endless conveyor belt which beltsmay have a roughened surface, and they support the upper and lower rollson the upper runs of the belts which belts may be roughened to increasethe friction between the toweling and the belt. v

. Another object .and feature of our invention is 55 ran interconnecteddrive between the upper and lower conveyor belt carriers so that theupper conveyor, which is in the main portion of the feed is operated bypulling an individual towel through an opening in the cabinet. Thisaction unwinds the clean toweling and transmits a drive to the lowerconveyor for rolling or winding up the soiled individual towels andtheir supporting web.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section substantially through the center of theclean and soiled towel rolls illustrating a partial vertical section ofa cabinet in which the rolls are mounted and have an interconnectedfeeding mechanism between the two rolls.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cabinet for using individual towelsattached to a web illustrating one towel exposed below the bottom of thecabinet for wiping.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one form of the individual towels, each towelbeing stitched to a supporting web.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 in the direction of thearrows, and Fig. 5 is an elevation of another form of towel in which theindividual towels are formed integral with theweb; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 5 on the line G-6.

Referring first to the toweling of Figs. 3 and 4: In this constructionthere is a long web of fabric H, and secured to this web there are aplurality of individual towels 12 for wiping. These towels arepreferably stitched as at E3 at one end to the web. The towels aresecured close together from the web so that the lower free edge M of onetowel is close to the edge l5 at the stitched portion, there being aslight clearance to allow for stretching of the towels when used andlaundered. The transverse measurement 15 of the individual towels may,if desired,be slightly less than the transverse measurement H of the webbut this is more or less immaterial. There is a strip 3 left at each endof the web without towels secured thereto, and in this strip there isformed preferably a pocket l9 which may be slipped over a mandrel toform a roll of the toweling in the web.

The individual towels are preferably provided with numerals 20, thesenumbering from zero to the highest number of towels and is used toindicate to the user the number of clean towels remaining in thecabinet. With this type of individual towel stitched to the web, theside margins 21 'of the towel may have a salvage edge and ter.

the free edge l4 may have a hem. The individual towels may be made ofquite different material from the carrier web, the towels preferablybeing a good quality of material for absorbing moisture and the web astrong material for conveying the individual towels through the cabinet.

In order to show that the cabinet is empty and that there are no moretowels to be used, a flap 22 is secured to the web above the last toweland this has indicia 23 thereon, which is illustrated as being the wordempty. This flap is so attached to the web that a portion of it willhang below the bottom of the cabinet and thus show that the cabinet isempty. This flap is preferably of material unsuitable for use as atowel.

In the form of toweling shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the web or supportingportion 24 and the individual towels 25 are formed integral and of thesame type of material. In this case therefore, there are two parallelslits 26 parallel to the side edges of the web structure and atransverse slit 2'! thus leaving the individual towels 25 attached tothe web portion by a transverse section 28 of the web whichjoins in themarginal edges. With this construction itis necessary that thetransverse measurement 29 of the individual towels be less than thetransverse measurement 3% of the web in order to provide a sufficientweb to give strength and to hold the individual towels inpositionproperly. This form of toweling is also provided with the numerals toindicate the number of towels in the cabinet, a flap to indicate thatthe cabinet is empty, and have end portions with loops or other meansfor attaching to a mandrel.

In the construction of the toweling of Figs. 5 and 6, the edges 25 and21 of the individual towels may be woven with a selvage edge and alsothe marginal portion of the web have a selvage edge. It is thereforeunnecessary to stitch the individual towels to the Web or to hem thelower free edge of the individual towels. Moreover, when the towel ofFigs. 5 and 6 is wound into a roll, the Web and the towel only form onethickness, whereas in the construction of Figs. 3 and 4 they form twothicknesses. Thus, with the construction of Figs. 5 and 6, a greaternumber of individual towels of the, same length as in Figs. 3 and 4 maybe wound on a roll of the same diame- In the construction of Figs. 5 and6, on acount of having the individual towels formed integral with theweb there is thus a space between the longitudinal slits 26 and the. end2'! of the towels where they join the transverse section of a web 28.

The cabinet structure is designated by the assembly numeral 3|] and isconstructed as follows and may be in the form of a rectangular boxhaving a back 3! top 32, a bottom 33 which is preferably hinged to theback by hinge 34, opposite sides 35 and a door 36 which may be hinged atone side, the hinged edge being indicated at 3'! at the right hand side.The door is provided with a vertical flange 38 on one side overlappingone of the sides and with av flange 39 at the bottom to engage thehinged bottom when this bottom is in the closed position. The door isprovided with a lug not illustrated, and with ventilating openings 40adjacent the top. An upper flange 4| on the door may also overlap thetop 32 of the cabinet.

Inside of the cabinet there is a frame 42 which is illustratedas havinga pair of opposite side plates 43 suspended on a transverse rod 44 whichextends from one side of the cabinet to'the other A transverse partition45 connects the side plates at about the center of the cabinet and thereis a lower shelf 46. This shelf is preferably provided with a slot 41and has a curve 46 at the lower corner of the frame. A vertical guideplate 48 connects the two side plates 43 of the frame and is preferablyset inwardly from the front edge 49 of these plates. An inwardlyextending end 50 approaches the front portion of the transversepartition 45. At the lower portion of the vertical guide plate 48 thereis a cylindrical section 5|, this preferably being spaced inwardly fromthe lower corner 5| of the side plates 43. The shelf 46 has a front edge52 spaced from the cylindrically curved portion 5| of the guide plate.

Each side plate is provided with a horizontal slot 53 extending inwardlyfrom its upper portion, which portion is preferably convexly curved asindicated at 53. The slot extends to the vertical axial center of eachplate 43 and from the horizontal slot there is a downwardly extendingvertical slot 54 terminating .at 55. The lower portion of each plate 43is also provided with a horizon tal slot 56 extending inwardly from itsrear edge which joins into a vertical slot 57 terminating at 58. samevertical plane. The upper slots 53 and 54 are for the insertion of theaxle or shaft 59 of the mandrel 60 on which the roll of clean towelingis formed into a large roll. The ends of the roll are accommodatedbetween the plates 43 of the,

The vertical slots 54 and 5'! are. in the a frame and the shafts are ofsufiicient length to extend slightly beyond the outside of these sideplates 43. The lower mandrel 53 on which the soiled toweling 62 is woundis also provided with an axle or shaft 64 which isinserted through thehorizontal slot 56 into the vertical slot 51.

These axles may move downwardly into slots, or the slots can be ofsuflicient length so that when the toweling is completely unrolled fromeach mandrel, the mandrels with the loops|9 of the toweling will besupported on carriers designated by the assembly numeral 64.

These carriers each comprise an endless conveyor which is illustrated asbeing formed of a belt 66 with half round slats 51 secured thereto.These slats. engage sprocket rolls 68 mounted on shafts 69, which shaftsare journaled into side plates 43 of the frame. The journals may beformed by perforations in these plates. Each of the sprocket wheels hasa series of notches 70 to accommodate the slats 67.. The outside orexposed surfaces of the belts 66 are preferably roughened which may bedone by forming the belts of a rubberized material provided with ridges,or by providing these with a sanded surface. The upper runs of the beltspreferably sag slightly in order to form a longer contact surface withthe clean towel rolls and the soiled towel rolls 52. The transversepartition 45 is for the purpose of preventing any contact of the soiledtowel roll with the upper carrier 64 which might possibly cause acontamination with the clean'toweling of the roll 6|.

The upper and lower carriers are driven at the same speed by means of aninterconnecting sprocket chain 1| which operates over sprockets 12. Eachof these sprockets is secured to one of the shafts 69 of the upper andlower carriers, which shafts project beyond the plates. 43 in the sidespace 13 between the plates 43 and the sides 35 of the cabinet. Thesprocket chain II is accommodated in a. side space.

The roll of clean toweling is rolled on the clean toweling roll in sucha manner that the attached edges of the individual towels are towardsthe mandrel on which such roll is wound. Therefore, when toweling suchas shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is used having a web with the individualtowels attached thereto, the web portion binds the individual towelsattached thereto between the outer portion of the web and the mandrel.Thus considering any portion of the clean towel roll, the web is on theoutside portion of the roll with the individual towels between the weband the mandrel. As the toweling is unwound, the web with the individualtowels extends downwardly in front of the guide plate 48, the end 50guiding this in threading the toweling, thus the web is in contact withthe vertical surface 48 and the individual towel hangs downwardly infront of this. When the toweling is in position for feeding a cleanindividual towel for use, a lower edge portion M of the towel of Figs. 3and 4, or the lower edge 21 of the towel of Figs. 5 and 6 is suspendedspaced from the cylindrical section 5!. The web follows the contour ofthis cylindrical section and passes rearwardly underneath the lower rungof the lower belt of the lower carrier, passes over this carrier, and iswound on the lower roll 62 of the soiled toweling. In this windingaction the individual towels are reversed so that the towels attached tothe web by stitches are reversely bent at these stitches, or thetoweling of Figs. 5 and 6 is reversely folded at the transverse sections28 of the toweling web. As the web and toweling is fed, an individualtowel hangs downwardly through the opening 15 in the bottom of thecabinet and may be used for wiping purposes. This is the only part ofthe web or toweling exposed outside of the cabinet and it is onlyexposed while a person is using it for a wipe in the manner hereunderdetailed.

The cylindrical curved section 5| of the guide plate 48, functions inconjunction with the web having the individual towels, the opening 15 atthe bottom of the cabinet and the direction taken by the web in beingwound in on the soiled towel roll to limit the feed of the web and thusthe individual towels when the projecting end of an individual towel ispulled downwardly through the opening 15 as indicated by the dottedtowel 74. When this depending towel is in alignment with the center ofcurvature of the curved end 5| of the guide, a downward pull cannotadvance the web or the toweling. In other words, the web or the towelingcan only be advanced until the point of attachment of the individualtowel to the web is at its lowest point of travel around the curved end5| of the guide 48.

In order to have the dispensing cabinet and the towels sanitary, we makeprovision for pulling of the cabinet after its release by the user, and

before it is rolled on the soiled towel roll.

In addition to the numerals on the individual towels engaging the numberof towels remaining still in the cabinet we may provide a window I82 inthe door (note Fig. 2) through which the number on a towel still in thecabinet is visible, this, then indicating the number of towels still inthe cabinet. With this construction, when the last towel is removed, theflap 22 may have some designation to indicate when the cabinet is empty.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

We claim:

1. A towel having a web structure with a plurality of pairs of parallelslits, each pair being joined by a transverse slit thus forming aplurality of individual towels formed integral with the web structureand attached to the web structure at the non-slitted portion, the webportion extending beyond the end individual towels and having means forattachment to a mandrel.

2. A toweling roll having a web with a plurality of individual towels,each attached to the web at one end only of each towel, the remainingportions of each towel being free of the web, the towels being spacedalong the web, the web extending beyond the end towel and having meansfor attachment to a mandrel, the web and towels being spirally woundwith the attached end of each towel towards the inside and the free endof .each towel towards the outside of the spiral, whereby in unwindingthe web from the roll the free end of each towel leads its attached end,said web having a substantial end or leader strip beyond the towelcarrying portion forming a cover for the complete roll.

3. A toweling roll as claimed in claim 2, each towel having a numeralthereon, the last towel on the inside of the spiral having the lowestnumeral and the outermost towel in the spiral having the highestnumeral, the numerals being in sequence on the towels therebetween,whereby inspection of the numeral on a towel when unwound indicates thenumber of towels remaining on the roll.

4. A toweling roll as claimed in claim 2, a flap secured to the webbetween the innermost towel of the spiral and the means for attachingthe mandrel, said flap having its free end towards the outside of thespiral, said fiap having indicia thereon to indicate when exposed inunwinding the roll that there are no more towels on the roll.

5. A toweling roll having a web with a plurality of individual towels,each attached to the web at one end only of each towel, and the towelsbeing spaced along the web, the web having lateral edges extendingbeyond the side edges of the towel, the web and towels being woundspirally, whereby the outer layers of web having attached towels confinethe inner towels of the roll and the said lateral edges of the webbeyond the side edges of the towel at the outside of the roll, forming aportion of the web to be grasped without soiling the towels in handlingthe roll and in inserting such roll in a towel dispensing cabinet, saidweb having a substantial end or leader strip beyond the towel carryingportion forming a cover for the complete roll.

6. A toweling roll having a web with a plurality of individual towels,each attached to the web at one end only of each towel and the towelsbeing spaced along the web and separated one from another by a portionof the web, the web and. towels being wound spirally with each towellying between the web adjacent its place of attachment thereto and thenext inner layer of the web, said web having a substantial end or leaderstrip beyond the towel carrying portion whereby a portion of the webforms the outside covering of the roll and prevents the towels beingsoiled in handling the roll and inserting such roll in a toweldispensing cabinet.

LAURENCE L. PRICE. OSCAR DITMANSON.

